


The Tide is High

by Dancains



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Human scientist Edward Nygma, Interspecies Sex, M/M, Merperson Oswald Cobblepot, One Shot, merperson biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 16:49:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12686133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancains/pseuds/Dancains
Summary: Light reflecting off of the water seemed to put his entire surroundings in a sickly blue-green haze. He leaned in closer, studying the condensation on the glass.Ed's heart nearly stopped as a pair of pale eyes peered back at him out of the darkness. He stumbled back from the glass, falling to the ground, his clipboard clattering to the floor next to him.





	The Tide is High

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea why I wrote this...please enjoy!

It was 3:00 AM exactly--or at least according to the LED display on his digital watch, a vibrant green in the poorly lit underground corridor.

 Ed's hands shook as he ran his key card through the scanner and punched the appropriate numbers into the keypad. The door to laboratory 5A slid open with a metallic creak, leaving him blinking against the unnatural fluorescent lights that shone inside. He clipped the identification card back onto the breast pocket of his lab coat and tried to steady himself with a deep breath. 

 It was the first time he was to be alone with the specimen. 

 Ed had only been in the lab previously with at least one of the other senior marine biologists. He knew was lucky to be one of the remote few who even knew that the specimen existed. The rest of the world was free to go about their lives, blissfully unaware of what was going on in the secret facility underfoot.

 The smell of salt water assaulted his nose the moment he stepped into the room. He had only grown up near fresh water as a child, lakes and rivers. The briney scent was still something he wasn't entirely used to. The door slid close behind him with an ominous click.

 A very large water-filled tank took up most of the room, its glass wall raising about six feet high above the cement floor, while the interior of the tank extended deeper underground. Ed wasn't sure how deep it really went; the water became dark and murky the farther down he tried to look.

 He held his clipboard tightly in both hands as he approached the glass. His assignment was merely to watch the specimen for the duration of his two hour shift and record any unusual behaviors. That is, if he could even observe any. As he had predicted, his subject was nowhere to be seen, obviously hiding deeper in the water or at the far end of the spacious tank. He had never personally seen it up close. 

 Light reflecting off of the water seemed to put his entire surroundings in a sickly blue-green haze. He leaned in closer, studying the condensation on the glass. 

 Ed's heart nearly stopped as a pair of pale eyes peered back at him out of the darkness. He stumbled back from the glass, falling to the ground, his clipboard clattering to the floor next to him. 

 The specimen watched him silently, something like a smirk on it's lips. Ed hadn't expected it to look so much like a person, despite the reports he had read. If he didn't know better he would have thought he was looking through the glass at another man. His eyes slid down a lean human torso to the line of scales underneath; a long tail curled in the water below the creature, almost more like that of a serpent than a fish.

 It wavered in the water, keeping its owner in place as if he was treading water. For a long moment they both studied each other. Ed could hear the pulsing of his own heart in his ears. Suddenly, the specimen disappearing, diving deeper into the water, below Ed's line of vision.

 As he picked himself up off the cold floor, he almost wasn't sure he had imagined what he had just seen. His mouth felt dry as he touched the tip of his pen to the his paper. He wasn't sure what to write, or if he should even write anything at all.

 As he stood, deliberately watching the tank, he wished that there had been a chair or stool in the lab for him to sit on. He snuck a glance at his watch--it was only 3:12. He hadn't slept at all before his shift, his nerves keeping him wide awake.

 After another ten minutes or so he gave in and sat on the floor again, his back pressed to the glass of the tank. He crossed his arms and spread out his long legs, trying his best to get comfortable. He was going to be here a while.

 He had almost accidentally lulled himself back into sleep, when he felt a tapping against his back. He blinked in tired confusion at the sensation, before he abruptly realized where it must have come from. 

 He pushed himself away from the glass, turning around to realize he was once again face to face with the specimen. At least he knew he wasn't hallucinating. Or at least he didn't think he was.

 "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Ed blurted out, the stream of words falling from his lips, "You're real. Oh my god, you're real and you're right in front of me."

 The specimen watched his mouth curiously. It--or more accurately, he--might have been handsome if he had been human, or at least interesting looking to be sure. This time Ed could better make out a long pale face and sharp features. Ed was taken aback by how intelligent he looked. The language in all the reports he had read had invoked the image of some sort of wild beast, without the benefit of higher levels of thought. 

 The specimen briefly open and closed his mouth, a few small bubbles escaping from it. The sight of jagged too-sharp teeth sent a shiver down Ed's spine. 

 "Wow, " he murmured under his breath, "You've certainly got some pearly whites there."

 He vividly remembered the strong smell of raw fish from the first time he had stepped foot into the lab. It had just been feeding time. Rose colored trails of blood had sat on the surface of the water. 

 He stood up, now acutely nervous, and backed a few feet away from the tank. The specimen tilted his head, his expression unreadable.

 To Ed's surprise, the specimen slowly swam towards the surface, until half of his face had peaked out of the water. The gills on his neck were still submerged. His face was on level with Ed's again, if not a few inches higher. 

 Wet strands of dark hair clung to his forehead. Ed was intrigued that is was so short. It was evident the specimen's kind knew how to use tools, something sharp must have been used to shear his hair. 

  _Merpeople_ , Ed's brain supplied, even though he had been instructed to never use that term or any like it. He was only to call it the specimen. Mermaids, and mermen, were the things of myth and fairytale. This was _real_ \--flesh and blood and scales--mere feet away from him. Staring at him with poorly disguised interest.

 "Hello," Ed said softly. The specimen's expression didn't change. Ed knew for a fact that he couldn't understand him. These creatures had their own way of communicating with each other while underwater, one that was still half mystery to the scientists that studied them, but was certainly different from human speech.

 "I'm going to talk to you, even though you don't know what I'm saying...mostly because you make me nervous...and this makes me feel better. At least, a little bit."

 The specimen blinked. From the past reports that Ed had read, he had rarely shown this much interest in anything besides food. Even if he couldn't understand, Ed assumed the specimen could hear the gentle cadence of his words.

 At this angle he could see the specimen's tail even better than before. At the end it forked into two fin-like structures that were almost translucent. A large cut ran through one of them. The specimen's swimming had apparently been hampered by this injury, making him easy to capture. The report claimed that it was probably the result of coming into contact with the propeller of a boat.

 Ed gestured towards it. "Was that really from a boat? Personally, I think the cut looks too clean. Did one of your...people do that to you? You don't have to answer that, of course." Ed laughed dryly at his own foolishness. " _God_ , what am I doing?"

 He felt that he should have been writing something down, but he didn't want to look away from the specimen. Ed was afraid he might swim away again. 

 He babbled on, telling the specimen about his day and any other thought that popped into his head, simply to kill time. He was astounded that the specimen lingered there at the edge of the tank all the while. Ed had been there for almost an hour.

 The specimen's tail swayed lazily under the water, back and forth like a cat's. Ed though that the wet shine of the scales was almost mesmerizing.  _Glittering_ was how he might describe them, or even  _luminescent_ \--though he would never use such flowery language in a lab report, of course.

 "You're beautiful, did you know that?" Ed said suddenly. "Absolutely stunning. I feel like, any minute now, I'm going to wake up from a dream."

 The specimen curled his long fingers along the top lip of the glass, lifting himself slightly out of the water until his chin was no longer submerged. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?" he asked.

 Ed screamed.

 The specimen laughed, struggling to keep it's hold at the edge of the tank.

 "I didn't--" Ed stuttered, "I didn't think you could understand me, let alone talk!"

 "I'm sorry." The specimen folded his arms casually over the side of the tank, as if having this conversation with Ed was the most ordinary thing in the world. "...But not that sorry. You should have seen the look on your face." The smile on his face was teasing but not cruel. Ed had no idea what to say back to him.

 "That doesn't change the fact that you said I was beautiful. You know, that's a very serious gesture in my culture. We don't take these things lightly." He pushed a wet strand of hair away from his eye. Ed noticed that he had very long sharp nails, and a thin webbing ran in between his fingers. He mentally filed that information away to the back of his brain. 

 "Well...I wasn't lying. I mean, I've never seen anything like you before."

 "I've seen plenty of things like  _you_ ," the specimen said, a disdain in his voice that softened as he continued, "but you do seem different. None of the others have spoken to me. They speak to each other as if I'm not there."

 Ed opened his mouth to defend his colleagues, but couldn't think of anything to say. It suddenly struck him how reprehensibly inhumane it was for them to capture the specimen and keep him here when he was evidently so intelligent. Even Ed himself had been blinded by the idea of scientific discovery. He felt guilt rush over him at his own lack of empathy.

 "I'm sorry," he said. He wished he could say more.

 The specimen nodded, as if accepting his apology. "Do you know how else you're different from the others?"

 "How?"

 "All of them are old and gray-haired. You're young, and very handsome," the specimen said matter-of-factly. 

 Ed felt a sudden heat rise to his face. He had noticed before that he was probably the youngest on the research team, by at least ten years, but this was the very last thing he had expected the specimen to say.

 He took a step closer to the tank, thinking he had heard wrong. "H-handsome?"

 The specimen smiled serenely. "Do you know how to swim?" he asked cryptically.

 "Of course I know how to sw--" he yelped as surprisingly strong hands hooked him under each arm, pulling him up and over the edge of the tank.

 The water was merely cold, not freezing, but it was still a shock to his system as he was suddenly completely submerged. He struggled for a second to decipher up from down, until he was pulled roughly to the surface. He struggled to tread water in his heavy, wet clothes until specimen clutched at his sides, helping to bolster him, his face less than a foot away from Ed's.

 Ed spit salty water from his mouth. "Why the hell did you do that?" he shouted.

 "I wanted to see you more closely. You look even better without those things on your face."

 "My glasses!" He hadn't realized they had slipped from the bridge of his nose. He looked down into the murky water but couldn't make them out. 

 "Are they very important to you? I'll go and get them for you, but only if you promise to stay here."

 Ed didn't think he even had the upper-arm strength to even pull himself up over the side of the tank to get out. Part of him wasn't sure that he even wanted to.

   
"Sure, okay," he agreed.

 With a sly grin, the specimen let go of him and slipped under the water, farther and farther out of sight. While he waited, Ed shed his lab coat, laying it carefully over the edge of the tank. He unbuttoned his shirt and did the same with it, leaving him in an undershirt and trousers. He managed to pull off his shoes as well, knowing that the leather was ruined as he tossed them over the glass onto the cement below with a wet plop. 

 Treading water became easier as he shed each piece of clothing, though he still felt a slight drag. Reluctantly, he pulled off his trousers, and laid them next to his coat and shirt. He gradually adjusted to the temperature of the water, no longer shivering.

 The specimen finally reemerged, looking even more smug than before, if it was even possible. His gaze traced up and down Ed's body curiously, taking in his state of undress. He handed the glasses to Ed, who carefully tucked them into the pocket of the lab coat for safe keeping. 

 "Isn't there a word you use when someone does something kind for you?" the specimen teased.

 "Yes," Ed huffed, "Thank you...um," he trailed off. "Do you have a name?"

 "Of course I do. Do  _you_ have a name?"

 "Edward. Or just Ed."

 "Mine's Oswald."

 Ed tried not to dwell on how ordinary a name it was for such an extraordinary being. "Well, thank you, Oswald. For getting my glasses, at least. Not so much for almost drowning me."

 Oswald ignored the last part of his statement. "Shouldn't I get something in return?"

 Ed had already remained in the water like he had promised, but he decided to humor Oswald. 

 "Like what?"

 "Like a kiss."

 The shock must have shown on Ed's face.

 "Never mind, I don't want one if you're going to act so disgusted." Oswald sounded hurt.

 "No, no, I was just surprised! I didn't think that you'd want to...because I'm..."

 "Because you're a human? I must admit, Ed, that's a part of the appeal."

 "Oh." He was rather intrigued as well.

 Oswald leaned in closer to him, holding his shoulders before pressing their lips together gently. Ed dully remembered Oswald's sharp pointed teeth, but thankfully he only felt the soft pressure of his lips. Like everything else around him they tasted of salt water, along with something oddly sweet. He wrapped his arms more tightly around Oswald, tilting his head as he deepened the kiss. He could feel the slick warmth of Oswald's tail against his bare legs. It slid in between them, the motion of the tail helping to keep them in place.

 They broke away for a second, both breathing heavily. Oswald dipped his head under the water briefly, before coming back up to pepper wet kisses across Ed's neck and jaw. His hand's snuck under Ed's thin tank top, his pointed nails delicately scratching down Ed's back in a way that made him shiver and gasp. 

 Ed wrapped his legs tightly around Oswald's thick tail, no longer able to concentrate on keeping himself afloat. He wasn't sure if Oswald was purposely rocking their hips together or merely moving his tail to maintain their position in the water. The strange friction against his now-straining briefs was tantalizing. He groaned against Oswald's shoulder.

 "Is there a ledge, or someplace else we can do this?"

 Oswald laughed. He jerked his head towards the far corner of the tank, where large boulders had put in place with cement in an attempt to mimic the seashore. "I'll race you."

 Without another word he plunged under the water, gracefully swimming away. Ed marveled at the sight before quickly swimming after him.

 "You're a pretty good swimmer...for a human." Oswald sat up on one of the smooth, flat rocks, his tails splashing in the water.

 Ed pulled himself out of the water and sat next to him, still breathing heavily. "You're a very good kisser...for a merman."

 "Is that what you call us. Interesting." He pulled Ed against him, threading his finger in wet hair. Soon he was flat on his back with Ed on top of him. After a few moments, Ed noticed another hardness pressing against his own. He gasped against Oswald's mouth.

 "You have a..."

 The merman laughed again, "Not everyone's body works like you're own, you know. Mine doesn't hang outside my body all the time...that must be why you wear these." He tugged at Ed's damp briefs. The sheer fabric was doing little to hide his erection. 

 Oswald helped to pull them off, along with his undershirt. His hands explored Ed's newly bare chest, moving up to his neck. "So smooth," he murmured, seemingly mesmerized by his lack of gills. Ed found it oddly charming. 

 As they kissed again, Ed savored the slick drag of their cocks grinding against each other.

"Oh, dear. Oh...Fuck." he grunted. The high keening noises that Oswald was making under him were almost as good as the physical sensation. He moved his hand down to better touch them, and realized that Oswald's erection was protruding from a soft cloaca-like opening. 

  _How interesting_ , Ed thought.

 "You can put your fingers in if you like," Oswald told him innocently. 

 "Okay," Ed stuttered.

 He inserted a long finger experimentally into the wet heat, knuckles brushing against the base of Oswald's cock. It clenched around him reflexively. Oswald moaned loudly, puffing hot breath on the shell of Ed's ear.

 "Is that okay? Like this?"

 "Yes," Oswald hissed. "I've never let anyone--" he gasped as Ed put in another finger, slowly drawing them in and out, "--touch me like this before."

 "I haven't really done this before either." He gave them both another few strokes, his fingers now moistened with the strange, velvety secretion. 

 "Well, you're doing a very good job of it, I think," Oswald said with a deep groan. They both laughed. 

 "You could put  _more_ in," Oswald whispered to him, as if suddenly shy. He looked pointedly between them as if to make his point. "I'm curious how it would feel."

 "Alright," Ed stammered, nearly shaking with adrenaline and excitement. He repositioned himself, knees bent on either side of Oswald's tale. Oswald watched him with heavy-lidded eyes. Ed finally pushed in slowly, squeezing his eyes shut as the soft tissue closed around him. He could feel Oswald wriggling underneath him, adjusting himself so he was more comfortable. Soon their chests were flush against each other, Oswald's heavy prick trapped between their stomachs. The merman let out a sharp whining sound as Ed reflexively jerked his hips.

 "I'm sorry. Is that too much?" Ed asked frantically, starting to pull out.

 "No...no! Please, more." Oswald tried to pull him closer. He ran his sharp nails down Ed's back as he pumped in and out again.

 Ed pressed another salt-water kiss to his lips. "I don't think--" he panted in between thrusts, "--I'm not going to last very long."

 "That's okay. T-touch me, please?"

 Ed worked a hand in between them as Oswald met his thrusts. Soon he was burying his face in Oswald's neck as he came, his cheeks brushing against the strange gills there. 

He wrapped his hand more tightly around Oswald's cock with each pump, feeling the opening clench more tightly around him as Oswald came with a spasm. They both laid panting and shivering on the rock, clinging to each other's body heat. Oswald patted his hair sweetly, as the gears in Ed's brain began to turn, silently planning Oswald's escape from the facility.


End file.
